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Beijing Considers New Curbs
As Pollution Threatens Games

By

Shai Oster

Updated July 29, 2008 11:59 p.m. ET

BEIJING -- China has gone to Olympian lengths to try to ensure that its skies are clear for the Summer Games, which formally kick off in 10 days. It has spent $17 billion on antipollution measures in recent years. Last week, it forced more than a million cars off the streets, halted construction in and around the city, and temporarily closed hundreds of factories in surrounding provinces.

But despite these measures, the Chinese capital remains mired in a gray haze, and the government's pollution readings have exceeded its...

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Three decades of growth have led to booming industry and an ever-growing number of cars on roads all over China. WSJ's Shai Oster reports containing pollution ahead of the Olympics is more than about cleaning up Beijing.